Storm bounce back to hurt Panthers

Melbourne's creative leaders inspired a second-half assault as the Storm recovered a four-point deficit with two converted tries to down Penrith 18-10 at home on Saturday night.

The Storm's season from hell had really begun to take its toll on the players with five losses in their last six outings, but tries from Dane Nielsen, Justin O'Neill and Matthew Duffie stopped the rot at AAMI Park.

Skipper Cameron Smith levelled three successful conversions with his final sideline effort taking a deflection off the upright before sailing through on the siren.

But a remarkable grubber from Brett Finch found O'Neill with a perfect bounce in the corner for the Storm to level six minutes later before Smith kicked the hosts into a lead.

Cooper Cronk kept the pressure on moments after the restart with a thumping 40/20 kick but Melbourne could not feel safe until Duffie beat the right corner post to plant the ball over the line in the penultimate minute.

The Panthers' hold on second spot now looks even more tenuous, after a third consecutive loss put a significant dent in their chances of challenging St George Illawarra for the minor premiership.

Jennings should put the Panthers ahead in the 37th but drops the ball as he cuts back in on the defensive line and looks to slam the ball.

Furious Penrith coach Matt Elliott stormed out of the coach's box before the final hooter, unable to watch his side sink to its third successive defeat

Until Duffie's match sealer it was anyone's game, with the Panthers looking more like rank outsiders for an NRL premiership than top-two contenders, leaving Elliott pounding the bench in the coach's box in bewilderment.

"Our lack of respect for possession at crucial times against a high quality opposition cost us, for sure," he said.

"We didn't give ourselves the opportunity to win tonight because of poor decisions."

The Panthers barely managed more than 50 per cent of completions, with their attack often aimless in the absence of half-back Luke Walsh and gun forwards Luke Lewis and Frank Puletua.

Melbourne opened the scoring in the 22nd minute through Nielsen, after Penrith star Jennings badly misread the attack.

The visitors hit back three minutes later as centre Adrian Purtell touched down after a pass from lock Nathan Smith and the teams went to the sheds with the Storm up 6-4.

Penrith hit the front in the 59th minute as Jennings, who last week extended his deal with the club until 2015, made amends for his earlier defensive error.

The New South Wales Origin representative pounced on a ball that was dropped after Duffie went up for a Wade Graham kick in the in-goal.

Both sides were guilty of a series of turnovers but then the Storm held on to the ball to finally build some pressure, with O'Neill reaping the rewards to lock up the match 10-10 before Smith's decisive conversion.

Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy finally had something to smile about, after a long month.

"Finally there was a little bit of reward for a lot of effort in the last month," he said.

"I was really proud of them. I think they're doing a wonderful job for the club."